beach

Today’s spotlight is on Washed and Found, who makes lovely beachy themed jewellery. I also love beachcombing. I think one of the best things I have found is a piece of drift wood shaped like a J, and I always hold out for something truly amazing!

My name is Suzanne Francis. I have always like to make things since I was a small child, but have been making beaded jewellery for well over 8 years, including wire work and children’s fimo clay jewellery. I’m self taught so no formal qualifications in jewellery making.

I have focused on sea glass jewellery in the last 2-3 years for which I have a particular passion for. I have collected sea glass for many years and have quite a large collection. I live in London, so whenever I go on holiday around the coast I find myself combing the beaches for sea glass, driftwood and any other interesting things – it’s quite addictive.

I used to sell at local markets and also through a website, but I decided to put my focus and energy into making mainly sea glass jewellery, and selling it through my Folksy shop. It’s still quite young – under 6 months, but has been really well received which I’m really enjoying – it’s a great confidence booster. I also stock sea glass beads, stamped keyrings and love working with copper wire and washers.

It’s hard to say which is my favourite thing to make, as I enjoy all of it so much. I suppose I get a particular thrill in making my drilled heart pieces, when they are made up into pendants etc – it’s nice to look at them and think, I made that! It’s something that takes a little more time and skill to make – which adds to the enjoyment and satisfaction.

Any tips?

I think the main tips for anyone thinking about selling jewellery successfully is that they should enjoy what they make. Your enthusiasm and passion should come through in how you present your work to your customers as well. You spend all that time making it so you want to make it look it’s most attractive, be consistent with your items and photos – it gives your shop front a more professional feel.

Promotion is also another must, I found when I started that my items would get lost among the thousands of other listed items, so I found creating a facebook page and posting on pinterest spreads the word and generates more sales. It’s taken me quite a long time to arrive at this point, so it’s not been a quick journey but an evolving one.